The local paper did a front page article in the Leisure section about J. R. Sharp’s guest appearance at the Amelia Island Museum of History. Over 60 people attended the lecture about his newly released book Feeding the Enemy. http://bit.ly/2beyImv.

Feeding the Enemy is based on the true story of an Italian family’s determination to survive in the face of evil during World War II. It is a story of perseverance, ingenuity, and love. This book captures the spirit of survivability against all odds and provides the reader with an appreciation of what Europeans went through during the war.

The Zucchet family is faced with the destruction of their farm and the annihilation of all their family members by the Germans and Pro-Fascist supporters during World War II. The family patriarch and World War I veteran, Pietro, uses elaborate hiding places to store food and valuables and diversion techniques to distract the enemy during their many visits to the farm. He does whatever it takes to prevent the same fate as so many families in the war-torn area. Pietro’s daughter, Catherina, makes a remarkable journey from young woman to wife and then mother of two while avoiding the same enemy. Woven into the tapestry of this novel is the story of her love and life within the terror of war with a soldier named Gino. The story follows his constant battles while serving in the Italian Royal Army and how he became a resistant freedom fighter battling his way back to her and their love.
– See more at: http://www.moaa.org/Content/Publications-and-Media/Member-Books/Member-Books-for-August-2016.aspx#sthash.TshO5uee.dpuf

“There’s passion and romance, life and death, suspense and lust, all told with an underlying sense of foreboding and hope, which the author applies at just the right measure. Feeding the Enemy is a well written and inspiring novel that’s not only heartfelt, but also sophisticated and thought provoking in the best tradition of the greatest historical novels. Well done!”– The Columbia Review

As you can imagine, being greeted with those words at the outset of a review by the esteemed Columbia Review of Books & Film was nothing less than thrilling!

Having spent so much time in Italy and listening to the stories about WWII, I had to write a book. That book became Feeding the Enemy a true account about how my family survived the war.

The picture is of my mother (Maria) and aunt (Loretta) in 2016. The black and white pictures are them in 1945 in front of the family farm. The farm is located in Italy near the city of Pordenone in a village called Cimpello.